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降

jiàng / xiáng
verb HSK 4 #3,853

Meanings

  1. 1 to drop; to fall
  2. 2 to descend; to land
  3. 3 to lower; to reduce

Examples

HSK 2
气温降了十度。
Qìwēn jiàng le shí dù.
The temperature dropped ten degrees.
HSK 3
价格降到了最低点。
Jiàgé jiàng dào le zuìdīdiǎn.
The price dropped to its lowest point.
HSK 4
今天的降雨量很大。
Jīntiān de jiàngyǔliàng hěn dà.
Today's rainfall was very heavy.

Tips

usage
jiàng is the everyday reading - anything that physically or metaphorically goes down: 降低 (lower), 降温 (cool down), 降落 (land), 降价 (cut price), 下降 (decline). The solar term 霜降 (Frost's Descent, around Oct 23) also uses jiàng.
mistakes
Two readings. jiàng is HSK 4 and covers everything physical or figurative that descends. The xiáng reading (see the xiáng entry) is locked to military/figurative submission compounds - 投降 (surrender), 降服 (yield), 降伏 (subdue), 降龙伏虎 (vanquish dragons and tigers). Same character, opposite halves of the meaning space.

Components

radical
阝 fù
mound; hill (left-阝)
Left ear 阝 - the side-form of 阜 (mound), Kangxi #170. On the LEFT it always means 'hill, slope, stepped earth'; on the RIGHT it would be 邑 (city). 降 originally pictured feet stepping down a hill, hence 'descend, fall, lower.' Same radical in 院, 阶, 险, 阳, 阴.
semantic
夅 xiáng
two feet stepping down
Right side 夅 - two downward-pointing feet, the original picture of someone stepping off a height. Together with the hill on the left this gives the literal scene of descending a slope. 夅 is rarely seen alone today, but survives as the phonetic-semantic core of 降 and 隆.

Stroke Order

降 jiàng